The Clan
by Areka Tyliss
Summary: Kari is your ordinary fifteen year old with an unhealthy interest in the Kira case. Unlike the public, however, she's not content to sit back and watch events unfold. No. She feels the need to take an active role in everything. Even murder...
1. Chapter 1

Untitled, as of Yet

Please, if you have an idea for a title, let me know. I'm terrible with those.

DISCLAIMER:

Ok, fine. I know the Death Note characters are not mine. However. Kari and her friends are so I'd be happy to lend them to you, but don't steal them. And I'm going to marry L. Just so you all know. 

I sat there, avidly watching the news.

"Kira murdered another 23 today. He's certainly showing no signs of stopping, although L is still working on the case. However, it certainly must be hurting that the police aren't dedicating as many men to the Kira case as they once were..."

That was an understatement. It was common public knowledge that the Japanese police force was no longer even conducting an investigation into Kira because so many officers and federal agents had been killed. Even the United States had withdrawn support and the most killings had been of American criminals. Still, you couldn't really blame them. It was a good thing people were so talkative on the internet because what with trying to look good for the public and the government's mild censorship on anything to do with Kira, I wouldn't have known much otherwise. 

It probably wasn't healthy that I was this interested in the Kira case, but I honestly couldn't help myself. My friends and I had been monitoring the case since Day One, and we had formed an almost Kira fan club. There were ten of us, and we were currently all so intensely bored with school that we really had nothing better to do than search for Kira's identity. Unlike the police, however, I was interested in who Kira was because I wanted to talk to him, understand him better. I had no moral objections to what he was doing; in fact I supported him. I was pretty sure that if I had the chance I'd do the same, but I wasn't quite sure I'd be able to stomach killing all those investigating me. 

I cracked my knuckles lightly and thanked God once again for my friend Emiko. Then I kicked myself mentally. Use code names! Do you want Kira to kill everyone? Eina. She was a total computer whiz and she managed to hack into some foolish guy's files. We were lucky enough to get wind of the fact that the famous model Misa Misa was somehow involved in the Kira case. At first, I'd just dismissed the connection as a phony rumor, but something rang true and I got a hunch. I always followed my hunches so I did a little more investigating and turned up the name of her manager. Matsui. I checked him out and he had strangely little background. It wasn't until his supposed 'death' in the newspaper that Eina was able to trace him. He was actually a police officer named Matsuda and after that it was easy.

She hacked his laptop and all the files on it. We lucked out completely. It seemed he was part of a secret task force on the Kira case, working directly beneath L in fact. So, between his information, the internet, the limited news, and our own deductions, we had a neat file of compiled Kira information. That night was like any other and I had finally finished my homework so I was surfing the internet while watching some television. I was considering going to sleep when my phone beeped. It was a text from Eina.

"Check Matsuda's latest update."

Ok. I logged into the folder on my desktop and then opened the internet. By opening the bluetooth connection I was into Eina's files as well (she lived a floor below me so our Wifi's were close enough to overlap) and then I clicked on Matsuda's image. His case file uploaded and I checked for a new update. I jumped into a seated position and reread the latest statement. I'd surely struck gold.

Greedily, I saw a new update in the file marked Diary. It had taken not only Eina's skills, but also that of Ryn's. And usually Ryn only needs to assist in burgling and hacking building security. But the password system Matsuda set up for himself was apparently pretty sophisticated for someone of his intelligence. Even by Ryn's standards. So when she told Inari about the system, he immediately concluded that someone else must have set up the comprehensive password for Matsuda; seeing as how Inari's the shrink, we concluded his conclusion must be right.

So I typed in the password (which, oddly enough was strawberry), and opened the new Diary entry without a problem. I scrolled down to the bottom. Matsuda's diary entries were quite informative and we learned more about the Kira investigation from reading about this man's day to day experiences than we did from his work files which were conspicuously absent of any real information. I just had to be content with skipping all the dumb drama he insisted on including.

'We had to meet him in a hotel room. We went separately, in two groups, up to the room. When we entered, boy was I amazed! L was nothing like the man I had grown to expect. He was very young indeed, appearing no more than 21, and he had wild black hair flowing every which way. His eyes were very searching and freaked me out a little with the deep rings underneath; clearly the man doesn't sleep. And, oddly enough, he walked around barefoot and when he sits, he does so by tucking his knees up into his chest, crouched on the chair. And constantly, he eats. It was cake and then ice cream tonight.'

A man after my own heart it sounds like. I think I'd rather like to meet L and perhaps date him, under different circumstances of course. My loyalty to Kira far outweighs any desire for romance, (which has never been a top priority for me anyway), and this L will hardly change anything.

I skimmed down through the Diary. That was one of the oldest entries that he had written, but my friends and I had analyzed those words weeks previously.

Ok. Here we go

'Boy that was a close call! I can't believe I had to fake my own death back there! But boy am I grateful to Ryuzaki! I think he's really mad at me now though...'

Yeah, I'd be too.

'But now we know for a fact that the new Kira is in fact a member of Yotsuba's elite conference group.'

Ah, this was finally getting good. Yotsuba huh?

'So Ryuzaki is having some woman install cameras in Yotsuba's conference room so we can further monitor the suspicious men. I was initially wondering if perhaps the confirmation of Yotsuba as Kira would eliminate Ryuzaki's need to be handcuffed to Light Yagami, but so far nothing seems to have changed between the two. Light seems to have just accepted it and is just bent on discovering and capturing Kira so that we can move on, but they did have that fight I had to break up...'

Fighting in the ranks while handcuffed? Kinky.

'So I guess Ryuzaki has involved Misa Misa in the investigating and Light is none too happy about it. He doesn't usually seem to care about her much, one way or another, but at least he seems concerned about her safety here, which is more than I can say about Ryuzaki. But I do wonder what he's planning with having her be the spokesperson for Yotsuba. Perhaps have her investigate them further through her working closely with them? Or leak information that she knows L?"

I was stunned. I even stopped staring at the screen for a second to glance at the clock. 6:15. Still early in the evening. I was going to need to call a meeting tonight. There was no disputing that. But now I had to finish reading the damn thing. I struggled to focus my attention on it.

'Anyway, I guess everything will become clear in time. I do worry myself about Misa Misa, but I trust Ryuzaki so it'll be ok.'

That was the end of his most recent entry. I set my fast dialing fingers on each of my three cell phones, texting everyone in the group to meet at the usual spot by 7:30. I rolled off my bed, folded my laptop, after saving his most recent entry into my own Kira file, grabbed my key and my little backpack from under my bed. I had my main supplies in there and I locked my door and grabbed some snacks on the way out.

"I'll be back later Mom!"

"Ok Sweetie. Come home in time to take a shower please!"

I was lucky my mom was so trusting of me. Because I kept my grades up and excelled in my dance classes she let me roam around the neighborhood with my friends until all hours of the night. Some of them had to occasionally sneak out to meet up with us, but at least I had all the freedom I wanted. As long as I got my homework done, that is. I walked a couple of blocks down to the abandoned house where I'd meet everyone. Funnily enough, about ten years back, Ryn, (my oldest friend), and I spread a rumor around the school that this house was haunted because we didn't want anyone else stealing our private hang out spot. As we made more friends and expanded into our group we introduced them into the flat and we ended up bugging it and setting up extensive security measures throughout.

So I gave my thumbprint and password and even got my eye scanned, every time I tried to enter the building. I didn't mind the extra eye measure; we had added that after the Kira case became our priority, it helped me feel even safer.

On the way down tonight though, I took a detour around to see the moon. I know of a little tree on a hill, just outside the housing complex I live in that is very peaceful and I wanted to look at the stars briefly before getting down to business. I checked my cell. It was only 6:30, I had an hour. I made for the tree at top speed, only to turn around and dash behind another tree. I felt a surge of anger. Who dared to invade my private spot. Then I looked more closely.

A greasy man, a couple decades older than me perhaps, standing alone under my tree. He was apparently star gazing. And holding something. I crept closer and then ran to hide behind a closer tree. An apple. Interesting choice for an evening snack, but then again, he looked like a college student and goodness knows they have strange taste anyway. But then he did something curious. I rubbed my eyes and peered through the darkness. He couldn't be, but...

The man had held up the apple to some invisible thing and the apple then floated off of his hand. It flew upwards a bit and then crunched a couple of times and disappeared like... something had eaten it, core and all. I pinched myself twice to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I love studying mythology and oddly, the idea of shinigami entered my head. It wasn't a well known fact, but I had seen on a couple of obscure websites that Gods of death love apples. Where had I heard that phrase before? I was completely muddled and just crouched there, watching this strange boy. He spoke finally.

"Well, I spose I have to go and finish my work now. Geez, Rem. I hope this doesn't have to become a habit."

He had a pleasant enough voice, but he seemed very creepy somehow. His business suit seemed perfectly put in place and he turned and started walking towards me. I quickly stood up and put on a bland expression, like a girl out for an evening walk. Sukiyo and Tomoyo had taught me well and they'd be proud to see my performance out here, at this crucial moment. I thanked God for the second time that night for my friends and also for the fact that I never panic, even at times like this. I stepped out from behind the tree in a meandering walk and looked at the man briefly. He jumped a little, and then relaxed, once my outline became clear. He and I walked past each other and neither of us said a word.

I suddenly felt the strangest sensation. Like I'd walked through a sudden mist and I felt another presence besides that of the creepy man's. I was scared, I broke out into a cold sweat and I felt my legs shaking. I managed to collapse at the foot of my tree and took some comfort from the strong and sturdy trunk. I turned and almost suffered a heart attack. There! Standing next to the man who was still walking away, a giant monster hovered behind him. 

The monster turned around and looked at me and I stared straight back and shivered a couple of times. The monster looked at me quizzically. I raised my hand and gestured in its direction. It stopped and floated back towards me. I backed up against the tree and pressed myself against it. The monster watched me intently for a little longer until the man stopped and turned around, apparently looking for it. It turned and resumed following the man. 

I didn't dare move until they were out of sight. I began racking my brain. I had studied every type of mythological creature in existence and there was no doubt in my mind that a shinigami was what I just saw. But what I couldn't figure was why. I didn't know what made some people able to see them and some not, but I definitely couldn't before I felt myself walk through the mist that must have been the presence of the shinigami, itself.

Somehow as I walked through it, I must have randomly gained the ability to see it, but as to why and how that happened, I had no idea. But, at the moment, I was more concerned as to why there was a shinigami on earth in the first place and what it was doing following a human around. I resolved to research shinigami more thoroughly tonight. I had only read about them in passing and that was a long time ago. I was sure that through my fantasy websites, I could discover a lot about them. For the moment though, I waited for my heart to stop racing and tried in vain to enjoy being under my tree.

I looked up at the stars and wondered about life in general. Were things happening the way they should be? The way I wanted them to be? Not that I suffered from any delusions about my own grandeur the way I often suspected Kira did. But I had always believed that I was in control of my own destiny. That I am my own god, my own fate. So I asked myself. Was my life going according to my plan? Did I want to be chasing down this phantom known as Kira? Being with these friends? Seeing this unrealistic goal? Seeing a fantasy shinigami turned reality?

Yes. I had always wanted my life to be interesting. Uncommon. Different. To stop the boredom. For there to be something more than my own mundane existence. That's why I had latched so willingly onto Kira and all his ideals. I wanted so badly to be a part of something greater than myself and religion had never found its place in me. So Kira was my god. My savior. I would do anything to aid Kira in his goals to restructure the human race. He will eradicate all the horrible people that I don't want in my world and I want the new world so badly I can barely stand it. Once he's gotten rid of all the bad people I'll be safe. No one will ever hurt me again...

No. None of those thoughts. I took a deep breath. And then another. And another. Ok. Time to organize my thoughts. It would do me no good to meet up with my clan if I was like this. Yes, I worshiped Kira. I knew this already. I was their leader. I had to protect them, to guide them. Which meant I had to get a handle first on myself and my own emotions. Yotsuba was Kira. A new Kira and a despicable Kira that I did not like in the slightest. So something had to be done about this unworthy Kira.

Perhaps L will be able to apprehend the bad Kira and the old Kira and second Kira would come back and resume their duties. Resume their status as the Kiras creating a new world order. But the matter at hand was the shinigami incident. I decided finally to not share that particular piece of information with my clan. I couldn't see how it related to anything, it might not have even happened. I had never questioned my eyesight or my sanity, but this event seriously made me wonder. 

But my interaction with the shinigami, real or not, was absolutely irrelevant to my life at the moment, so I ignored it for the time being. I looked at my watch again. 7:25. Crap. I sprinted back inside the complex and over to the house. I was only a little late, but I'm rather notorious for that. By the time I got there, my emotions were under control and I was ready to become Kari, the leader of my clan to aid Kira. 

I walked in casually. My breathing was still a bit rapid, but I inhaled deeply through my nose and enjoyed the looks of anticipation on everyone, (exempting Eina), faces. I paused for a moment to enjoy this a little longer, but my moment was ruined by Jin.

"Ok so you had to interrupt my TV show for what? For you to stand there all high and mighty like 'rawr i am kari god of you all. bow down and submit to my will.'"

"Thanks Jin, for that lovely introduction. Do you want me to tell you why I called you or to prance around a little longer posing as some almighty?"

"Get on with it!"

"Always the impatient one Eina."

"Alright! Hey!"

The mumbling dwindled to a dull roar.

"So, Matsuda updated his Diary."

Silence

"And besides Yotsuba being confirmed as Kira, L has decided to use the model, Misa Misa as his spy in Yotsuba, as well as having set up security cameras in the meeting room of the conspirators."

I paused and then remembered something else I'd read in a previous entry.

"And also, I believe Light Yagami had the brilliant idea to call one of the members, pretending to be L, and has set the guy up as a mole inside of Yotsuba."

Further silence. Each person was sitting, standing, or making the expression that indicated deep thought. Now that I'd presented why I'd called them here, it would be up to them to help decide a course of action. What would we do with this information? Ryn spoke first, as usual.

"I'm thinking bugging Yostuba would be a wise idea."

"But if we bug it and L's bugging it, our bugs might conflict and alert him to our presence."

Ever the cautious one, as well as being the only one present, besides Ryn, who actually understood the whole bugging business, Eina and Ryn often argued over the technological course of action in our plans. They began to quietly discuss perhaps using L's bugs for our own bugs and the rest of us split into our usual discussion groups. I would rotate among the groups as they offered and proposed ideas.

Sukiyo thought maybe sneaking someone in to search the office might be plausible and Mi just wanted to test the stuff. While everyone was left to their musings I thought more, not only on the shinigami I saw, but also where L might be stationed. Tomoyo had already suggested having Sukiyo pose as either a college student or an FBI agent in an attempt to find L and his hide away. While Matsuda's files were certainly informative; without them we would have been lost entirely, L's would, of course, be so much more comprehensive and we could also learn about L himself. 

I walked over and sat in front of a laptop. Even though I'd calmed down mostly, I was still a bit anxious. Inari came over and knelt next to me.

"Hey, you ok?"

One thing I loved, and hated, about Inari was how well he knew me. He could always instantly tell whenever I was feeling out of sorts. It was a talent he had in general, hence his being dubbed The Shrink, but right now, I needed him to be thinking about the case, not me. I smiled boldly.

"It's fine Inari. I'm just remembering a nightmare from last night. But I shouldn't be distracted and neither should you."

He looked worried, but smiled anyway and returned to Sukiyo's side. At times, I was definitely jealous that she was with him. We were very similar in personality, and at one point I was very close to asking him out. After watching them for a year, I'm very convinced it would have worked fine between us and it's too bad it didn't.

I looked back at the laptop. My finger itched to search shinigami, but I knew that'd have to wait until later tonight. I wanted to be productive, but I was completely unsure of where the investigation was going right now. So, on a whim, I searched 'Detective, L'


	2. Chapter 2

Untitled, as of Yet

Untitled, as of Yet

Please, if you have an idea for a title, let me know. I'm terrible with those.

DISCLAIMER:

Ok, fine. I know the Death Note characters are not mine. However. Kari and her friends are so I'd be happy to lend them to you, but don't steal them. And I'm going to marry L. Just so you all know. 

A thousand and one results popped up. I skimmed through most of them, clicking and making a note of ones that detailed his involvement with other cases. It seemed as though he'd been working cases for awhile. Though I was working in the Kira case, my goal had always been to find, and then if possible, help Kira so I had never given much thought to L before, but suddenly, he seemed quite interesting and he even seemed to be a likely lead to check out.

Not that I'd ever work with him, of course, but maybe, well, probably, he had information on Kira I'd never dreamed of. If I could get ahold of this L and either make a deal or interrogate him in some way, that would be ideal. 

Judging by the earliest case involving his name, he'd been around about 10 years. Long enough for him to be, at the very youngest, in his early twenties, and not probably too much older than that, unless he started late in his detective career. He seemed quite brilliant though. He was famous, after all, for solving unsolvable cases. There didn't seem to be any pictures, besides the gothic letter L, but I didn't expect there to be any. 

I scanned for a long time, biting my thumb, until someone mentioned going home. I looked down at my watch and cursed. It was 10:00 PM already. Mom wouldn't be too happy. Thank god it was a Friday and I didn't have to get up in the morning because there was no dance competition this weekend. Before everyone had left, Mi suggested an interesting idea. 

"Why don't we start rounding up criminals? Ourselves?"

"You mean kill them?"

"No, just, I dunno. Tie them up. Leave them in a public place. For Kira."

"Like offerings?"

"Yeah."

"But, how would Kira even know in the first place about these guys? If we drug them, they'll only be unconscious for so long and none of us, 'cept maybe Jin, is strong enough to hold down more than one at a time."

Sakura spoke last and I stared at her.

"Sakura."

"What?"

"No. Sakura TV."

The others gasped in delight.

"Send a message-

"Like the second Kira-"

"It worked the first time-"

They were tripping over each other's words until I held up a hand to silence them all.

"Eina and Sukiyo, make a tape resembling that of the second Kira's. Jin, help them with the voice over and burn it to a thumb-drive from Inari, that way it can be traced less easily. Nanami and Mi, make sure there are no traces of DNA anywhere on the drive or the envelope in which it is sent. Maybe send it from Shibuya just in case. Sanyu, don't use too much on fancy stamps, maybe we'll use some of our own, unlickable stamps."

Everyone was nodding and plotting.

"Maybe I'll put a bug in the drive. I'm sure the drive will go straight to the police before it ever hits live TV and I might be able to locate L's hide out that way."

I looked at Ryn, impressed. Tomoyo spoke next

"Why don't we just have a sleep-over here tonight?"

Everyone was nodding and agreeing. I shook my head regretfully.

"You know how my mom is about sleep-overs."

They all knew well.

"But I'll come by bright and early ok? Bye!"

I walked briskly home and discovered I was quite tired. I fell asleep immediately, forgetting entirely about L and shinigami. But I did dream about shinigami that night, the one that I saw was talking to me about something that was small and black. In the dream the scene was vivid, I was talking to a girl and the shinigami from that night was there, but, when I awoke at 2:30AM, I couldn't remember anything beyond that description.

I yawned and stretched a little. For most people, my waking hours might seem strange, but I could make it on through my life with little naps; i didn't need to sleep for more than 3 or 4 hours at a time. I figured you sleep when you're dead and I conveniently suffered from insomnia.

So, I got up and browsed around my room for things needing to be done. I got myself a bowl of ice cream and some cookies and sat cross-legged on the floor, my stuff strewn in a circle around me. I thought carefully and made a list of things needing to get done and when they needed to be done by. I had some maps and a section of notes for history, a brochure for french, a couple of math problems, and a chemistry worksheet, all due monday. I had to clean up my room by noon today. I wanted to get a couple more chapters done in my novel this weekend, but that was optional. I had a few dances to review, also by monday. However, the cleaning of the room and making a list of potential criminals to apprehend placed top on my list.

I put on some music through my laptop and began tidying up a bit. I managed to eliminate three quarters of the mess by just stacking and filing the ream of papers carpeting my study. I figured that would be satisfactory for now and it was only 3:15. I re-seated myself within my circle and pulled up the internet. I wasn't sure what to search and for awhile I sat there staring at Google and chewing my thumb. I tried local criminals.

A few million sites popped up. I didn't figure I had much to lose, besides time, so I clicked the first one. Not what I was looking for. After an hour of fruitless search, I ran out of cookies and ideas. Plus, my ice cream had melted. So, I refreshed my snack store with potato chips and thought for a little while longer. By 5 I was fed up and paced.

Then I quickly sat down and tried 'rapists'. Then I tried 'Tokyo rapists'. In my mind, Kira was a punisher to all criminals, but, as a woman, I wanted to specialize. Besides, my cousin had been raped and it held a special, I dunno, meaning to me. I also tried 'Tokyo pedophiles' because that was the other cause I felt especially strong about. Between both searches, I actually got a list of promising people. The internet is a twisted thing indeed. I got names, faces, addresses, and potential and documented victims for all of them. I focused on the ones acquitted or not yet tried. I also tried to find people who were not men in peak condition for our starters. I phoned Mi around 6AM

"Hey, It's Kari, listen try developing something like chloroform, or if you can get your hands on that stuff it'd be great. Just see what Jin can get ok?"

He called me back 10 minutes later.

"Way ahead of you Kari. You've been looking up criminals all night huh?"

"Am I that predictable?"

I smiled wryly into the phone.

"Only to those who know you."

"Thanks."

"Well, Jin actually left around midnight last night and we're still waiting on him. He called about an hour ago. He seemed pretty excited. Said it was kinda expensive, but totally worth it."

"Awesome."

"He should be back in a few hours."

"Where did he even go?"

"He wouldn't tell us. He never tells any of us."

He paused for a second.

"'Cept for you that one time."

I blushed unintentionally. Mi and Jin were best friends and I thought Mi might have held a grudge about that time.

"He was only calling because he needed a ride and Sanyu and I are the only ones who drive and Sanyu's parents would have noticed if he took their car."

I grumbled. Mi laughed.

"yeah well. I'm gonna get some shuteye with everyone else. You should try to do the same and maybe get over here by noon ok?"

"yeah, see ya."

The phone clicked and I double checked everything again before snuggling myself up in my blankets. That time I'm not sure if I dreamed because I remembered absolutely nothing; a rare occurrence.

I woke up at 10:30 and by then my mom was up. I wrapped a robe around myself and sat down to a proper breakfast as she berated me for the missing cookies. It was unhealthy to be eating so late at night and for god's sake couldn't I just eat some fruit instead? I shrugged and resumed my lucky charms. After the cereal and some apples, I grabbed a lollypop and packed up my laptop, phones, lists, and threw on my usual outfit. 

On school days, I was well known for my bizarre fashion sense and make up style. You might find me in fishnet shirt and matching tights with a short skirt and tee, or jeans with writing all over them and oversized shirts, ripped, re-sown, tattered, torn, brightly neon, and black were things common in my wardrobe. However, on the weekends and for missions, my outfit was often the same.

Sports bra, thin tank top of neutral color underneath a loose white shirt, spandex shorts underneath a pair of comfy, oversized navy sweats, and a baseball cap with sunglasses. That way, I'm literally prepared for almost any weather, it's appropriate for most buildings and I blend in well. Obviously, if I was on a specialized mission I would either send Sukiyo, have her come with me, or I would have Tomoyo disguise me a little better, but for my abilities, I thought I did reasonably well.

So, I popped into the house around 11:30 to find most everyone snoozing. I drew a deep breath to yell at them all for being such lazybones when I noticed Jin and Mi snickering in the corner. I turned and raised my eyebrows at them. They beckoned me over and spoke in loud whispers.

"Sorry Kari. I know you wanted to talk to us all but-"

"When I got back I just had to try out some of this stuff."

I stared at them, then glanced at my watch.

"When did you knock them out?"

"About a half hour ago."

"When will they wake up?"

"The guys should be up in an hour. The girl in maybe two or less."

I was very impressed and more than a little annoyed. This stuff must be very strong.

"So tell me about it."

Jin nodded eagerly and leaned forward.

"Boy did I get a good deal on this one Kari. You'd have been proud."

"I see."

"This stuff is new, I guess my guy just found a new inventor or something like cause he'd never mentioned this before. But it has been tested!"

He hastily interjected at my look.

"I paid about twice what I did last time for the tasers."

I did the sums in my head. That did amount to quite a tidy sum of money. We weren't left with much to spare, but we did babysit a lot and I had the secret stash if it came down to that, but I was saving that for a time when it was absolutely necessary. But if it really knocked them out for this long...

"What's the dosage? How do you administer it? And side effects?"

Now Mi took over. It was obvious that he had run multiple tests on the stuff already in his upstairs lab. We had given the basement to Ryn and Eina for their high tech nest, upstairs was a mad scientist's lab gone very wrong and everyone else had the run of the main floor. And each their own room for their specialty. It was actually a spacious house and I was surprised we'd been allowed to have it for this long.

"Well, from what Jin's guy told him, we gave about a third each of the recommended dosage to our friends here. However, the guy was very generous in mL per yen so we have more than enough left after our little experiment. We administer by soaking a cloth or tissue in the liquid and then holding it over the nose and mouth. The effects take place within seconds. The victim gets a bit woozy and susceptible to any ideas you choose to tell them."

He paused a moment to grin at Jin and I decided I did not want to know. I cleared my throat meaningfully and he sighed with a note of regret.

"Anyways, it can be administered through injection and that's just a more highly concentrated way to give it, but I hardly think we're going to have the time or the inclination to be stabbing every criminal we nab with a hypodermic."

"Well we could if it came to that."

Now he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Yes, but then we would be facilitating AIDS."

He had a point. I motioned for him to continue.

"That's pretty much it. It's not deadly, even in very potent injections. Well, not deadly in humans anyway. But it has the chemical to cause long term brain damage, but that's in extremely rare cases. When our dear friends wake up, they may or may not be dizzy, achy, stiff, tired, hyper, drowsy, hallucinating, auditory or visionary, suffering slight paralysis, unsure of where they are, slight amnesia, nausea, and, most likely, anger at myself and my partner in crime here."

The way he rattled off the effects made me slightly nauseated. I glared at him.

"So what you're telling me is that, when they finally all are awake, they'll be too busy trying to remember their name, throwing up, beating you guys up, or in a catatonic state?"

"That's some over exaggeration."

"Then you tell me."

"Well, the puking and the chasing are valid. The rest are only side effects, well mostly, with a full dosage. I said may."

I punched them smartly in the arms and pulled out my list. Even in my peeved state, I wasn't in such a rage to waste the potential three hours before everyone was conscious and ready to proceed.

"So here's the list I compiled last night and this morning."

They both looked it over. I explained about wanting to specialize in rapes and pedophiles and they both nodded their agreement. All that was left was to pick an initial target. As we were pouring over my list, searching for said target, a thought occurred to me.

"So what about that tape? The message to Kira?"

Mi grinned again, wider this time then I'd seen it all morning. That was worrisome. Jin shrugged.

"I'd left by the time that was in process."

Jin and I were both anxious and curious, (the anxious bit being on my part of course) to see this message to the police and kira. So as soon as it began I punched Mi again in the same spot.

"I hope you don't make a habit of this. That hurt!"

"Ugh!"

Jin was laughing and I'd paused the tape in disgust. Instead of Kira or L, in gothic lettering someone, probably Tomoyo by the looks of the calligraphy, had written Kari neatly. 

"But don't you see? It's perfect!"

I glared at Mi.

"Come on, Kira, Kari. It's genius."

Hmmm... I unpaused the video. I had to admit, while a dumb joke, it would definitely puzzle the police, not to mention Kira himself. The only thing I had to be careful with was the fact that this group was not the only people who called me Kari. I'd have to ask my other friends at school to call me something else. Also, they had, unintentionally or not, placed all the blame on my little head in case we were ever found out.

"Dear Kira, I have a proposition for you."

The voice changer worked nicely, like always. The tape was of nice quality, not like Misa's second Kira tapes. I figured, as did my friends, that if you were going to do something, do it right. Especially Eina would have been nit-picky about the picture.


	3. Chapter 3

Untitled, as of Yet

Untitled, as of Yet

Please, if you have an idea for a title, let me know. I'm terrible with those.

DISCLAIMER:

Ok, fine. I know the Death Note characters are not mine. However. Kari and her friends are so I'd be happy to lend them to you, but don't steal them. And I'm going to marry L. Just so you all know. 

I watched it all the way through three times. Just to make sure there were no clues, besides the name Kari, that might link it to any of us or even our specific area. Obviously, we were narrowed down quite a lot, simply by what we were proposing, but we had been ready to deal with that from the beginning. All that was left was to seal it and send it from somewhere else.

"So, where are we sending this from?"

"Well, Sukiyo mentioned something about a trip to Kyoto with her little siblings tonight. I guess they're spending the night there for her step mom's birthday or something and coming home late tomorrow. She said she could mail it then."

I nodded and then opened my mouth to ask a question. Mi preempted me.

"The envelope is being kept in a sterile plastic bag and Nanami has it soaking in chemicals that will purify the paper and somehow keep it from absorbing DNA or retaining fingerprints."

I must have looked skeptical. He shrugged.

"I can explain it to you with enough time and demonstration."

I put my hands up.

"It's ok, Mi. I trust you and Nanami completely. This is you field of expertise; I won't interfere. I'm just lucky to have such amazing friends."

Jin interrupted the nice moment.

"Damn right you are. And I wish you'd think of that appreciation the next time you go to smack me."

"Yeah woman! You've got quite the temper there!"

I rolled my eyes and they laughed. We settled down to wait on everyone to wake up.

A week later

I was scared. Not that I'd ever admit it to anyone for anything, but I could deny the fact that my heart rate was high above normal. And all I was doing was crouching behind the corner of a building, staring intently at the tiny screen of my ipod.

As I peered, it really struck me how clever Eina was. To be able to completely rewire an ipod so that it showed pictures from our cameras stationed all over the place and then for it to still be able to place music. I was listening to Prayer of The Refugee by Rise Against as I waited impatiently for...ah. Here we go.

I wiped my sweat palms on my velour track pants and stood abruptly, my knees aching from being bent for so long. I began to jog out along the path I'd rehearsed in my mind a million times. Except, this time was for real. I was jogging slowly and knew that the man I was apprehending was just around the bend. It crossed my mind that, at this moment, Sukiyo, Ryn, and Inari were out doing the same thing I was. I felt the drenched cloth in the bag that Nanami had specially made for these kinds of missions and then all the fear left. I was left with a sense of exhilaration as I jogged ever closer to my victim.

A couple of hours later, outside the police station

I was sweating lightly as I circled the parking lot, searching for a spot. My job had actually been the easiest when I thought about it; no room for error. I had to just knock out my guy, get him in the car, get to the station and drop him off. The others had to use less powerful mixtures with different agents to persuade their victims to come with them because, none of them could drive. Taking drugged criminals on the subway or buses with me was not something I envied them for.

I pulled in and discovered I was the first one there. I got worried, but not for long. 10 minutes after I arrived, Inari came. He was quite punctual; I'd gotten there early. We waited and it wasn't long before we'd amassed 5 very bad guys. We tied them up and left the clean note with them in front of the station and snuck away. We were all delighted and we went back to the house to celebrate with pizza. Over a couple of slices we talked it over.

"So what's going to happen now?"

"Yeah, I mean, besides what we've already done?"

"Well, it'll be up to Kira now."

"We sent the thumb-drive in."

"And it wasn't aired on Sakura TV..."

"It's true, but the police saw it and that's all that really matters."

"Why?"

I shrugged. This was a hunch.

"If it was so easy that a pack of teenagers could hack into police files, I'm sure Kira must have at least hacked L's. I'm sure Kira is well aware of Kari by now and even if he, or the police, thought it was just another hoax, well, they'll sure be surprised when they find our criminals waiting for them, bright and early, just like Kari promised."

Then I grinned at Sakura who knew what I meant and grinned back. The others demanded to know what was so funny.

"Well, I wanted to find something that would really shock them, meaning the police, into seeing that Kari wasn't messing around here."

Sakura continued.

"We searched through Matsuda's entries to find some word of importance, something distinctive..."

"Shinigami."

I smiled at Ryn and nodded. Everyone else just stared. It was pretty obvious that Ryn, Eina, Sakura, and I were the only ones who had read all the entries, but that was ok. Sukiyo questioned me next.

"Like death gods?"

She was a mythology buff like me. I hurried to clarify.

"In Matsuda's Diary we found a strange mentioning of the second kira. early on, in one of Misa's videos, she mentions 'showing our shinigami' to prove that kira was kira to her. Also, in her fake diary she sent in to the police i guess she mentioned the shinigami because Matsuda noted it twice."

I paused to cough a little.

"But what caught Sakura's interest was the word 'showing' like shinigami was maybe code for an object, probably having to do with how Kira and the second Kira murder people."

Ryn applauded for Sakura.

"What caught my interest was what Matsuda said L, or rather Ryuzaki's reaction to the word shinigami. Apparently he flipped out and fell off of his chair screaming. It was in Matsuda's words 'I was sure he was afraid and I'd never seen him scared before.' I just figured that shinigami would have meaning to Kira and Ryuzaki so in my note I just said

'Hey Kira, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let me into your heart, then we can start to make it better. Bring all your shinigami and we'll win together. Kari'"

Mi laughed and high fived me.

"Yes! Beatles!"

"Yeah well, had to have some of that."

Everyone was pretty pleased with the turn of events. All of our targets had been effectively taken care of and by now, even if Kira was not aware completely of Kari, the police and L were, at any rate, and it was getting to the point where that was just as good for me. I was taking quite an interest with L, Ryuzaki and I wanted him to be just as in the know as I wanted Kira. Ryuzaki seemed quite a smart person and an interesting person and I have always had this childlike obsession with attention. 

I suppose you might say I never matured past 10 or 11. Old enough to understand certain things were right and wrong, old enough to get crushes on guys, and old enough to appreciate learning. Mentally, my intelligence far surpassed that of my friends, in general, which was originally why they elected me as their leader.

However, I was still young enough to fantasize about a perfect world, a utopia. Even though I wasn't religious, Kira was my Jesus of sorts. And while I was dreaming about being there by Kira's side in the new world, I was still too young emotionally to dream about love. Crushes, yes. Commitment, not for me. I was too flighty, too afraid that love would make me become someone I wasn't. But I loved unconditionally, when I chose to love.

So, as I grew to like this other larger than life person, L, Ryuzaki, I wanted him to notice me. To acknowledge my existence and appreciate what I was doing here. At the moment, however, I was more concerned about shinigami. After we went home that night, I pulled up the internet and sat down to research everything about shinigami.

They were Gods of Death, they lived in their own realm, they watched humans from above, they most likely had been, at one point, human themselves because they could not reproduce with each other. They killed humans to lengthen their life span and when they looked at humans, they could see the human's true name and life span above their heads. They loved apples.

That sentence hit me with a start. I remembered vividly the night with the floating apple. And then seeing the shinigami. Now, thinking about it, how was I so positive that what I had seen was a shinigami? I was following one of my many hunches and I wasn't about to stop here. This was feeling like a big lead and I had never been one to not follow a hunch. Never had my instincts betrayed me before.

So I searched throughout internet sites for other people like me who had seen them, however, I couldn't find another case of someone walking through one and then being able to see them. Maybe I was unique in that aspect. But why? I searched and slept in intervals.

Then, finally, I found something interesting. This website was different. It wasn't particularly well made, it looked old. Maybe from the days when the internet was young. I read the strange writing carefully. It was all about something called a death note. What the hell was a Death Note? 

"Honey, come on! You have to go to competition today! Put on your Jump The Track Costume!"

I sighed and bookmarked the site. I struggled to get up and start putting on the tights and fishnets. I had to align my seams perfectly, it was just something I was particular about. As the day wore on, I became weary and forgot all about the shinigami website or whatever that bizarre thing called the Death Note was.

Two weeks later, in the house

I sat, munching Hershey's kisses with all my friends. Everyone was sitting in thought. We were unusually quiet after this mission. We had rounded up 20 more criminals since we first wrote the note to Kira. When we had dropped off the criminals today there was a note for us, apparently from Kira. However, I had my suspicions that L had made up the note for me himself.

I hadn't actually read the note yet. I'm not sure what I was waiting for, but somehow I didn't quite want to read it. But, I overcame this strange feeling and unfolded it carefully. It was a typed note and I was opening it with latex gloves on. Mi made sure of that. It read

Dear Kari, While I am very appreciative of your help in my judgment of criminals, I am confident I can handle this myself. Please stop rounding up criminals in an attempt to help me.

Kira.

After reading it twice I handed it to Mi without a word. Ryn tried first.

"Are we gonna stop?"

"Hell no!"

I snapped at her and then felt bad. There was no need for such anger. I just felt ignored. Put to the side. There was almost no other feeling I hated as much as that. I was angry. But I quickly got control of myself and resumed control.

"We will continue catching criminals. I am confident that L was the one who wrote that, not Kira. I am sure he just hasn't had enough time to respond to our efforts. He is busy after all."

Everyone nodded encouragingly. Suddenly, Tomoyo ran in. I felt guilty; I hadn't even noticed she was missing from our gathering. She was flushed and jumping up and down in excitement.

"Guys! Guys! Lookie!"

She brandished a newspaper article. I grabbed it and scanned down the page. She pointed to an article on the left column. The Kira update column.


	4. Chapter 4

Untitled, as of Yet

Please, if you have an idea for a title, let me know. I'm terrible with those.

DISCLAIMER:

Ok, fine. I know the Death Note characters are not mine. However. Kari and her friends are so I'd be happy to lend them to you, but don't steal them. And I'm going to marry L. Just so you all know. 

It detailed how there was a new Kira helper who was leaving criminals in front of the police station. It also said that these criminals were being killed a couple hours after. So, it was clear that Kira was at least noticing the extra help. It wasn't going to waste and that was all I needed to know. I gave an encouraging smile.

"See? We just have to keep it up and soon enough L will get the hint that we're on Kira's side all the way!"

Tomoyo showed the paper around to everyone else and we relaxed, knowing we were helping and doing some good. It was a nice feeling and my mood was considerably improved.

I walked home swinging my arms in a half skip and decided to visit my tree again. Not even thinking, I started trying to whistle and was pretty close to my tree when I noticed someone already standing there. I halted, mid whistle, and just stood there, staring. It was the same yucky man as before with his monster, but this time he saw me. He grinned at me sickeningly and I felt my stomach turn over. He beckoned me closer and I hesitantly took a step forward.

"Well hello there gorgeous."

I stopped and looked at him uncertainly. I decided on the innocent little girl approach and peered at him through my bangs. He smiled wider.

"Well aren't you a pretty little thing? Almost as pretty as my Misa, but chubbier."

My eyes unintentionally sharpened. I widened them again as soon as possible, but he'd seen my anger. I cursed my temper. He laughed creepily.

"Awwww, I didn't mean it in a bad way. You are just voluptuous, like a woman."

He said woman in a weird tone of voice and my body was yelling at me to turn around and run as fast as I could. I could smell the liquor off of him from the distance I was standing; there was no doubt he was drunk. I backed up a little. He took a few steps forward.

"Hey, don't leave me all alone here!"

I backed up farther. I was pretty confident I could outrun him, but still. He wasn't scaring me so much as grossing me out and I wanted to just go home and take a shower. The monster cocked its head at me and I looked at it too long I guess because the creeper turned and looked at it. I took the opportunity to split.

I sprinted, turned a couple of corners an jogged the rest of the way home. I stopped hearing his yells pretty quickly, so I figured he wasn't even bothering to chase me, which was fine with me. I jogged in the front door and took off my shoes, immediately heading for the bathroom.

"Hey Honey!"

"Hi Mom. I'm gonna take a shower and go chill on the internet for awhile ok? Just don't disturb me please."

"Well fine then."

I rolled my eyes and shut the door. I was comforted immensely from having the warm water pour all down my body and feeling the soapy bubbles on my skin. By the time I'd finished washing my hair and stroking it gently with the brush and then putting on some sweet smelling lotion, I was feeling a hundred percent better.

I sat on the floor of my study in my towels and pulled my laptop over to me. I turned on some music: Loose Ends by Imogen Heap. Then I pulled up my internet and sat there for awhile, staring at the google start page. I wanted to make my time productive and search something about the Kira case, but my thoughts were completely occupied with the monster. So, I found the weird website I'd saved in my bookmarks about shinigami and tried to magnify it through my word processor to get a better view of the strangely written words.

Death Note. It talked on and on about rules, shinigami possesing people, and something called a Death Note. I scoured the website and finally found something like a dictionary.

Shinigami- a death god. They love apples. They originally come from the Shinigami Realm ruled by the Great Shinigami.

Ok. That's nice. The website read like it was written by a fifth grader. I rolled my eyes and scrolled down.

Death Note- a notebook. Every shinigami has its own Death Note. They write the names of people they want to kill in their Death Note and the people die in 40 seconds of a heart attack.

What? I scrolled back up to the definition of Shinigami:

ruled by the Great Shinigami. They have the ability to see a person's true name and their lifespan. When they kill people before the person's life is over, the extra years of life held by the person is transferred to the Shinigami. You cannot kill a Shinigami with a gun or a knife. They must always be in possession of at least one Death Note, however, if they obtain a second Death Note, they can give it to a human.

Humans possessed by Shinigami- a human can use a Death Note without consequences in their mortal life. They can write the name of a person and picture that person's face in their mind and the person will die. Various types and times of death can be specified in the Death Note. A human can trade half of their remaining life span with their Shinigami in exchange for the Shinigami's eyes. The human can then look at any person not possessing a Death Note of their own and see the person's true name and lifespan. If the person the human is looking at has a Death Note of their own, the human can only see the person's name.

My head was reeling as I looked away from my computer screen. Surely none of this could be real. But, it fit so perfectly. I had been seeing a monster. Kira killed people with heart attacks. No one could actually murder someone with a heart attack by human means. People had been speculating all along that some sort of supernatural force was involved in the Kira murders, but I wondered where this website had come from. I emailed it to Eina right away.

Surely there must be some way to track down who made the website or where it came from or something. It probably wasn't a Kira supporter who made all this information public, but I had to think. If I, a fifteen year old girl, could find this website, then why the hell hadn't L? Why wasn't he looking for this Death Note? Or, if he was, why hadn't he told the public, or even Matusda about this Death Note? I had never heard any mention of Death Note in Matsuda's Diary, and he didn't seem smart enough to conceal a factor this important. My head hurt from all my wondering. I called Eina.

"Ok, so I just emailed you a link to the strangest website I have ever seen. It tells about Shinigami and something called a Death Note."


	5. Chapter 5

Untitled, as of Yet

Please, if you have an idea for a title, let me know. I'm terrible with those.

DISCLAIMER:

Ok, fine. I know the Death Note characters are not mine. However. Kari and her friends are so I'd be happy to lend them to you, but don't steal them. And I'm going to marry L. Just so you all know. 

She started to speak and I talked over her.

"Look, don't bother asking how I found the website; it was through long hours of Google ransacking. And don't ask me why I was searching shinigami either, I can't explain it. It's just another hunch I was following. But look, if you can track down who made the website or help me verify the information, that would be wonderful."

Silence.

"Look, Kari. No, just look. I am always happy to help you in your hobbies and don't get me wrong; the Kira case interested me outside of your obsession, but I'm not the only one who feels this way. You never tell us much. Only what we 'need to know'. And I'm getting kind of sick of it. You're not the only intelligent one in the group you know."

I tried to talk and she cut me off. I shut up.

"At least you've been making an effort to have us hang out in situations that don't have anything to do with Kira. I'm glad. I had been initially afraid you wouldn't, but I'm happy you have. That's not the issue here."

She sighed and I waited patiently. When it became clear she was waiting for me to speak I did so, softly.

"I'm trying to protect you."

Silence again.

"Eina..."

"That's not my name."

"Emiko."

Her surprise was almost audible. I guess she hadn't expected me to use her real name.

"I know this is a protected line and I worry too much in general and I spose it's no good to try and explain to you that what we are doing is dangerous, illegal, and that we could all very well end up dead. That's obviously not what you want to hear."

My voice had gone monotone. My temper either flared or flattened, but usually when this kind of calm set in, people tried to avoid me.

"If you so wish, I will fully explain my hunch to you and the rest of the Clan at the next meeting. I can't guarantee you'll believe me because I hardly believe myself anymore and I'm pretty sure I'm losing my mind, but if that's what you all want then fine. I will."

She sighed again and her voice was quieter when she spoke. She sounded weary, but I felt no guilt. I was in the right here.

"Fine. I'll check out this website and your Death Note. I would like it very much if, at the next meeting, you could just explain your Death Note theory to us. I'm not asking for a look inside your brain, I'm just trying to understand you a little more so that I can help you keep from losing your mind. That's all."

She paused and I made no noise.

"I just kind of feel like I used to know you so well. I know you've always gotten your inexplicable hunches and they've almost always been right, but it's like I used to know how you ticked and now it's like you're a different person.

Or maybe I just never knew you."

She hung up and I flopped down on my stomach. Uh. This was not something I wanted to deal with. I always tried to avoid drama whenever possible, but maybe this wasn't something i could just roll my eyes at and be done with. People weren't going to just write off my rudeness as eccentricity forever; sooner or later this was bound to happen because, as Eina said, they weren't stupid. Ok. Fine.

I'd tell them about the shinigami incident and my suspicions about Kira and his possible, well who was I kidding? Probable possesion of a Death Note. So maybe they'd all think I was a basketcase and not work with me on Kira anymore. Or maybe I could convince them. Either way, it was time to own up and stop trying to protect them like small children because apparently, even though my heart was in the right place, my mind wasn't. So humph.

I browsed through the website some more and my anger dwindled and a feeling of hopelessness set in. It didn't matter if Eina could track the maker or not. The website was quite detailed, in its own way, and the person who made it was probably too careful to leave traces of his identity anywhere. But at least this was something and something was always better than nothing. But right now, all of our information wasn't going anywhere.

"See, my dealings with the shinigami, the website about the Death Note, the 'showing our shinigami, the suspicions of L about Light Yagami, the fact that Kira's power seems to have moved through Light Yagami and Misa Amane to a creeper in Yotsuba, a business group nonetheless, and the fact that our only response, so far, is the discouraging note, yet all of our criminals are killed anyway. All of this is valuable information, but it's all over the map. None of it is going in a definitive direction. At this point in time, I'm a little unsure myself as to what we should do with all this information."

The Clan stared unblinkingly back at me. I had revealed everything about the creepy guy, his monster which I suspected to be a shinigami, the website about the Death Note, Eina's confession to me, which had come later that previous night, that she was unable to trace a scrap of anything from the website, which seemed sloppy at first glance, but was actually the work of a professional, and all of my suspicions had been laid bare. So far no one had spoken or even so much as twitched. I sighed and looked down. My voice was much quieter.

"The reason I had been keeping this from you was I was afraid you'd all think I'm crazy and hallucinating or on drugs. I am neither, just so you know."

I looked up encouragingly, for anything, a joke, a snide comment, a sigh, any noise at all. The silence was deafening. I squared my shoulders and looked my Clan in the eye.

"We have been capturing dangerous criminals who were a threat to our society and community. These we have delivered to Kira. By now, our catchings have numbered over 100. This is nothing to sneeze at. We are all deeply involved in this and I had been trying to keep your being involved in my own interests about how Kira kills to a minimum so at least Kira would have no reason to be after any of you and try and give you at least that protection.

However, I have seen the error of trying to protect you to the extent of hiding information from you all and for that I can only appologize. My appology, don't mistake it, is for hiding information, not for trying to protect you. I care about you all and I don't want this to end badly."

I waited again, in vain, for a response of any kind. I was close to exasperation.

"We can continue as if this meeting never happened. We can go on catching criminals and delivering them to Kira if that is what you want. We could investigate my line of inquiry further, or we can drop it. And I will drop it, if you say to."

"We already knew you were crazy, Kari, but I never expected this."

I looked at Mi gratefully. Sukiyo didn't waste time on making me feel better.

"You better promise not to hide anything from us again. Hunches, hallucinations, hell, I want to know every thought that runs through your head!"

I arched an eyebrow.

"About the Kira case of course."

I barely managed to crack a smile and I felt the tension ease. Everyone waited for a second and then the murmuring started and I felt eternally grateful to these people, my friends. I sat down wearily.

"This doesn't mean that we completely believe you, Kari."

I looked up at Jin.

"But,"

He hesistated.

"We'll continue your line of investigation because, well, even if you are just a schitzo, it's certainly entertaining and it's not like we have a lot else on our plates or anything."

I grinned at him.

"I'm not that crazy."

"Yes you are."

I shrugged and gave up. At least they hadn't turned me into a mental ward and I was glad for that. It was later that Sanyu and Nanami actually gave me a great idea.

"What about L?"

"What about him?"

"Well, he's obviously a smart guy and I think that, for our own investigation, not that we should collaborate with the enemy or anything, but what if we just met with him? As a business transaction."

I didn't say anything and Sanyu explained.

"You have valuable information here, Kari. Plus, you are already at a total advantage in a situation where you met face to face.You are already in possession of knowledge of the fruits of his investigation, a nicely planted mole who is unaware of his position as mole and so cannot reveal us, we're untraceable and unhackable thanks to our lovely specialists."

He nodded at Eina and Ryn.

"You are in control of a highly organized and brilliant Clan."

A few cheers and snapping.

"You control the rounding up of dangerous criminals, something that has to be threatening L in his Kira search and to top it all off, you know about the Death Note."

I was already nodding avidly and planning. If I could trick L, well he seemed to be into playing mind games with everyone anyone, but I wonder how he'd react if someone took it upon themselves to set a trap and play a little mind game with him. I was gonna mess with him and I was grinning unintentionally. I didn't even realize until I heard Inari whispering to Sukiyo

"Boy, she really does look evil when she smiles like that."

I smirked and raised my eyebrows. Sukiyo demanded

"Hey! Tell me what you're thinking! Now!"

I looked at her, but in my mind I was seeing the letter L.

"The game is afoot, my dear Ryuzaki and mark my words, I will win. It's on."


End file.
